The Bonner County Daily Bee reports that the local library board in East Bonner County, Idaho has had some serious concerns about SAGA, the acclaimed space opera fantasy comic book series by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples:
Roughly a half-dozen people, accompanied by Idaho Sen. Scott Herndon, had approached the EBCL board in May asking them to either pull the series from circulation or move it to an adults-only area, calling it pornographic and damaging to children.
"This situation causes unnecessary risk to the emotional and psychological well being of our children," said Meredith Bennett, one of the parents who called on the board to address the library's holding of the series.
To be fair, the very first page of the very first chapter of SAGA opens with Alana screaming, "Am I shitting? Oh god I feel like I'm shitting" as she gives birth. While there are plenty of kids in the story—including that baby, who serves as the narrator—I don't think anyone would describe SAGA as a book for kids. It's also one of the most consistently banned books around the country, and has been for the last decade.
Which is why the East Bonner Library system had it shelved in the adult graphic novel section. If anything, it seems like the county parents are really mad about the self-checkout system. But even that's just a stand-in for desiring complete fascistic control over your children at all times. Which is probably not a great way to raise a healthy community! (Maybe those parents should read SAGA, as it addresses all of these things, including library censorship.)
The good news is: the library board ultimately declined an outright book ban, with one board member pointing out that, "The series may be offensive to some in our community but it has been very popular and circulated 150 times in the last 10 years." The recent passage of HB 710, however, means that the library system will need to move the books, and potentially re-organize its entire system and layout, in order to make sure that no pesky kids wander across a page of our heroes get attacked by a troll using its ginormous dong as a club.
Anyway, the most recent SAGA collection came out this past November, with volume 12 slated to start next month. You should check it out (if somehow you haven't yet).
'Saga' series prompts questions, concerns [Caroline Lobsinger / Bonner County Daily Bee]
